Coaching for Pizza

Sunday, June 15, 2025

A Much Needed Lazy Sunday in Seattle

Sunday, June 15, 2025

After three long, hard days of working on the wedding ceremony that did not occur yesterday, Laurie and I opted for a day of tourism along Seattle's waterfront.

We still needed to make one more early morning visit to the Seattle Yacht Club to pick up all of the flowers and vases of the decorations that we had set up yesterday in the dance floor area.

It was on this final trip that I espied

this cool Native American whale icon

We then moved out of the AirBnB near the Yacht Club and into the Johnson's home for our last day or two in Seattle.

At about noon, we decided to take the short walk to the nearby Seattle Light Rail Station next to Husky Stadium. From there we would be whisked away to the Pioneer Square District of old town Seattle.

A nice garden as we walked

to the Light rail station

Laurie posing on the Montlake Bridge

I liked the decor of the . . .

. . . Pioneer Square Station

One of Seattle's older buildings

The Smith Tower

When I arrived at the University of Washington in 1966, the Smith Tower was hailed as the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

Today, not so much.

It was a lovely day for a

midday adult beverage

So we stopped in at the

Merchants Cafe for a beer

The Merchants Cafe is now

135 years old and counting

It was pleasant inside with an

outgoing bartender who doubles as

a photographer by the name of Austin

He shared a small tin box full of some of his best photos that we both liked.

Chief Sealth

He was the leader of the local Duwamish and Suquamish peoples whose name eventually morphed to the city's name, Seattle.

The awesome Pioneer Building

An esteemed old edifice indeed!

Pioneer Square has its own

Totem Pole

Another fine example of Seattle's

early 20th-century architecture

Outside of the Federal Building

The controversial Federal Building

that was the focus of yesterday's

anti-Trump "No Kings!" protest march

From Pioneer Square, we headed

to Seattle's Waterfront

IVAR'S!

We decided to dine in their fancier

restaurant to celebrate Father's Day

Ivar's has served excellent seafood

to the citizens of Seattle since 1938

The view of the ferries

from our table at Ivar's

The seafood was outstanding!

We continued walking along

Seattle's Waterfront

The view across the Puget Sound

was stunning

One of the many fascinating shops

along pour stroll

The Seattle Aquarium has expanded

since our visit three years ago

The view of the Waterfront and . . .

. . . the Puget Sound from on high . . .

. . . as we headed to Seattle's

iconic tourist destination

The Pike Place Market was rocking

as usual today

NOT MORE FLOWERS!

Ah, we are indeed on vacation now

Saffron is NOT cheap by any means

If you are in Seattle, then

seafood is an absolute MUST!

But meat is OK, too

Greek fish?

Another of the Pike Place Market's

fish stalls

Miniature flower baskets on sale

Grocery

"Such a beautiful word, grocery."

The Market's iconic sign sits . . .

. . . just above the Market's most

iconic stall with flying fish,

The Pike Place Fish Co.

My body said

"GO THERE NOW!"

Jacob would have loved this

I'm getting more in tune with

this t-shirt every day

"And stay off of my lawn too while you're at it!"

The Pike Brewery was good

for another libation

If only the line were not so

long on this warm day

Back at the Montlake Bridge

before calling it a day

News from the net . . .

In Italian Bowl XLIV,

the Ancona Dolphins (10-1) will now

take on the Firenze Guelfi (11-0)

for the Italian DI Title in Toledo, Ohio

in two weeks

Week 5 of the European League

of Football was boring overall again

There were four blowouts of 35+ points.

One somewhat competitive game was contested with a 17 point spread.

The final game on the schedule was a close one, with but a one point victory margin.

Still too many blowouts in the ELF week after week and season after season.

We all know this, right?

100% True

It was good to be alive today sharing it with my adorable bride.

The long drive home starts tomorrow.

Stay tuned . . .

The Shocking Tale of the Sophia Johnson - Nick Posegay Wedding

Saturday, June 14, 2025

On a beautiful late Spring day when the country was in the midst of "No King Protest Marches" and a controversial, costly Military Parade in Washington D.C., easily the number one memory of the day will forever be the bizarre turn of events at today's wedding ceremony in Seattle.

To review the basics, long time friends Mark and Susie Johnson's oldest daughter, Sophia, was scheduled to exchange her wedding vows today with fellow biblical studies scholar Nick Posegay. The couple met while they were both attending Cambridge University in England while attaining their prestigious PhD degrees.

They have spent the last year and a half working, studying and writing at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

This was going to be their day and a source of great enjoyment, fulfillment and pride, for especially the parents of the bride and groom.

Nick's family and friends who are based in the Chicago area and Sophia's college friends from Biola University in California made up the majority of the approximately 100 guests.

Unfortunately, only one of their myriad of European friends accepted their invitation to the wedding sighting fear of what the Trump Administration's policies have turned America into these troubled days.

In typical Johnson family style, no expense was spared to make the day memorable.

And it would be, just not for the reason we all thought.

But let's start at the beginning . . .

Our five person volunteer slave

labor crew reported to the Johnson

ancestral family castle at 6:30 a.m.

Our fun filled crew once again included Lindy, Dori, Mary Ruth, Laurie and myself for third straight day of intense work.

While we were organizing and moving flowers and all sorts of wedding day curios to the nearby wedding site, the Seattle Yacht Club, several rowers were out for a workout along the Montlake Cut that borders the Johnson's property.

What a beautiful setting for a

cup of morning coffee

We made SEVERAL trips to the Yacht

Club to set up all of the decorations

before the wedding ceremony

Back at the Johnson Home breakfast

was being served for the wedding

party and our crackerjack work crew

Bride Sophia was soon to have

her hair and makeup done in the

Johnson Manor's living room

As were all of the bride's maids

The setting for the wedding and

dinner al fresco were perfect!

Proud Dad Mark reflecting on

the day just hours before Zero Hour

Besides transporting the decorations and setting them up at the Yacht Club, my duties today included two trips to the market to purchase needed supplies for the big breakfast which turned out to be delicious!

Laurie joined me for the ride to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle to deliver a bottle of champagne and a large basket of flowers to be in the room when the newly married couple arrived tonight to spend their wedding night in the lap of luxury. By the way, this is the same hotel that housed Mark and Susie on their wedding night 30+ years ago.

My final madcap drive was a last second one to the Best Buy store in the Northgate Mall to buy some specialized cord that our wedding announcer needed to connect his phone to the Yacht Club's P.A. system. He could not get it as it was time for the wedding pictures and he was a groomsman.

Life on this work crew is never dull.

4:00 p.m., time to head to . . .

. . . the Seattle Yacht Club . . .

. . . which has several impressive

trophy cases

I love it when a plan comes together!

Laurie looked GREAT!

I felt like a banker with that coat and tie that I was wearing.

The weeding area looked good

Sophia's mother, Susie, on the left

with Sophia's surrogate "Grandma" Liz

A poignant and thoughtful moment to be sure.

Anchors Away!

Let's get the show on the road

Susie and guests milling about

just before the ceremony started

Then it got a tad whacky.

All the guests were finally seated including the all of the groomsmen and the bride's maids who did not enter in the traditional procession down the aisle. That was odd.

Four people then walked up the white rose petal laden center aisle, Nick's grandfather, Nick's mother, Nick and Susie but there was no padre, rabbi or officiant at the end of the aisle to greet them.

That was odd.

Finally, Mark and Sophia entered down a slight hill with Sophia beaming and Mark looking quite somber. He proceeded to walk Sophia down the aisle with a smile. To be emotional at your daughter's wedding is indeed normal but Mark also had a strange look on his face for some unknown reason.

That was odd.

As Mark handed Sophia's hand to Nick for the start of the marital rite, there was still no padre, rabbi or officiant in sight.

That was odd.

Nick then took the microphone to announce that "There would be no wedding today."

That was more than just odd.

Then Nick quickly announced to the all of the stunned people in attendance that four days after they got engaged in Europe they got married. That happened 18 months ago and absolutely none of their friends or family had a clue until Nick's message to us.

Now we were in the world of the truly bizarre.

No one except for Mark. Sophia had told him just as they were about to walk down the hill, hence the pained expression on Mark's face.

That was heartbreaking for me.

We were all still stunned but that was the end of the "ceremony."

That was exceedingly odd.

On to the reception . . .

Mark made a great speech

Mallory was the Maid of Honor and

is Sophia's younger sister

She did a splendid job bringing much needed humor to the evening's festivities.

Sophia talked to the assembled

multitudes after dinner

She announced that since Nick and Sophia love pancakes, we would be having a Pancake Bar feast instead of the traditional wedding cake for our dessert tonight.

I had a deuce of chocolate chip ones,

YUM!

Some extra toppings for the

pancakes was a good touch

Susie and Mark discussing the

day's events with their friend Janice

The dance floor indoors was

jumping but not for the work crew

While the wedding party and guests were performing their best dance moves, our work crew (Laurie, Dori, Lindy and yours truly) were busy breaking down all of the decorations from the now empty outdoor dining area.

We are a strong band of dedicated, underpaid peons who love our roles in these dangerous days of ICE raids.

This will be a much discussed and remembered day by all of us in attendance to be sure.

No, really,

THAT WAS ODD.

Mark included this all important

message in his talk

Finally, from today's net . . .

We do and this is ABSOLUTELY true!

Saturday, June 14, 2025

The Wedding Day Approacheth

Friday, June 13, 2025

Our work crew was up bright and early again this morning with two things in mind.

Initially, we needed to keep working on all of the flower arrangements for Saturday's wedding ceremony.

Also on our agenda was preparing the Johnson's backyard for tonight's rehearsal BBQ dinner for the wedding party's family, all out of town guests and, of course, our entire work crew.

I had an off campus chore to deal with first, head to the Fred Meyer store in Seattle's Ballard District trying to find eight cans of sterno, long handled BBQ tongs, two large bottles of coffee creamer and two boxes of coffee pods. It took a minute to find everything but I was up to the task!